Schönfeld, Aloysius

Aloysius (Alois) Schönfeld, son of Mathias Schönfeld, was born 13 April 1872 in the colony of Pfeifer.

He studied theology at the Roman Catholic Theological Seminary in Saratov and was ordained on 10 December 1895.

Father Schönfeld served as vicar in the parish of Kretschmanov [Kostheim] in the Tauride Province from 1895-1897. He then served the congregation of Volga German immigrants in the parish of Rozhdestvenskoe in the Kuban [now Stavropol Krai] from 1897 to 1903. He was in Stavropol itself from 1903 to 1905 and in Simferopol from 1905 to 1911. He served as the parish priest in the village of Yamburg from 1911 to 1923, and from 1923 until his arrest, he served the parish in Odessa.

In 1924, he (along with many other clergy) was arrested for "counter-revolutionary activities" and sentenced to three years of exile. Following his release, he served the parish in Zinovievsk [now Kirovograd].

He was again investigated in 1932. During 1934, he made several visits to the parishes of St. Alexander and St. Nicholas in Kiev as well as to the Greek Catholic Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

On 29 July 1935, he was arrested along with 7 clergymen who were charged with creating “a fascist counter-revolutionary organization of Roman Catholic clergy.” He was accused of “creating a counter-revolutionary nationalist group, delivering counter-revolutionary sermons from the pulpit, drawing up plans for protests against the Soviet regime, and organizing support for prisoners.” He was convicted on 14 May 1936 and sentenced to 5 years in a labor camp. On 9 September 1936 he was sent to the Ortauz camp of Karlag in Kazakhstan where he died on 6 April 1938. He was buried in the camp cemetery. [During the latter days of the Soviet Union, he was "rehabilitated" on 8 September 1989 and posthumously cleared of all charges.]

Father Schönfeld was a gifted musician and more than 40 of his works were published. He was also the author of numerous poems.